A Vast Public Park!

Taurus Sun and Moon are meeting in a ‘vast public park’, according to their Sabian Symbol! There they will celebrate the shared joys of May, the pleasures of Taurus energy, earthy, sensual, imbued with the beauty and love of Venus, ‘ruler’ of this sign. Taurus is fixed, marks the fire festival of Beltane, and keeps an ancient reverence for the feminine, celebrated all over the ancient world 5,000 years ago, during the ‘Age of Taurus.’ This was a period of huge public processions and gatherings, when tribes met in peace during the season of Beltane to find love and comfort in each other’s presence.

photo: Sarah Fuhro

The constellation Taurus marked the two halves of the year for many ancient people. Taurus contains the Pleiades and the Hyades, two important and highly visible star clusters. At Beltane the Pleiades rise at dawn. At Samhain (late October), they rise at sun set. It’s hard for us to see these great wheels turn in the sky from season to season, but when we do they enrich our understanding of the meaning of change in our lives. Astrology, which came from ancient observation is one way to enjoy and interact with the turn of the cosmic wheel, and to remember that nothing stays the same, but is always in process of transformation.

Sun and Moon feel the action of Mars, Pluto, and Black Moon Lilith, from their position in another Earth sign, Capricorn. Mars and Pluto make demands upon the luminaries in their Taurus embrace to manifest their love, because Capricorn demands material evidence. We may also feel that strong energetic push to make something visible during this season of Venus, whether a new child or piece of art. Black Moon Lilith is always a reminder of whatever we might choose to forget or ignore. Pluto is also the revealer of truth as we see week after week during this time of revealed sexual secrets.

photo: Bruce Lhuillier

But the planet most energized at the new Moon is Uranus. Always on the move, electric, rebellious, Uranus will move into the sign of Taurus later this day. This might have a huge impact on earth energy since Taurus is very associated with the element of earth and there is the extra impact of a new Moon cycle. On the day Uranus went into the sign of Aries in 2011, Fukushima was struck by a huge tsunami, and nuclear plant melt down. But Taurus is a sign of love of the earth. What if the entry of Uranus into Taurus on May 15, hours after the new Moon, becomes a moment of intense victory for the earth, a joyous appreciation shared by enough people to turn our self destruction into passionate appreciation of the beauty and grace of our home?

photo: Bruce Lhuillier

Despite all the heavy interaction between planets, asteroids and luminaries, between cosmic bodies visible and invisible, this new Moon, embraced and hidden in the light of the Taurus Sun contains the potential for a new way of seeing the world. Love and kindness are always there, waiting for us to notice.